Zombies Bite
by HaveBookWillTravel
Summary: SYOC, anything goes! Accepting submissions NOW! I WANT YOU...R ORIGINAL CHARACTER!


**Author's Note: **Okay, so a while ago, I submitted a character to one of those SYOC stories for HSotD, and after a phenomenal first chapter...nothing. After a bit of investigation, and cajoling once I discovered that it had been abandoned, I have decided to create one of these bad boys myself. I understand that most of these types of stories are never finished, and indeed, almost never make it out of the planning stage. However, I am determined to at least make an effort, and so here we are.

Now, before we get started, there are a few things you should know if you want to submit a character of your own.

**FIRST OF ALL, THIS STORY WILL BE SET IN A SMALL TOWN CALLED FARIBAULT, MINNESOTA DURING LATE NOVEMBER OF THE YEAR 2015.**

**SECONDLY, THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE WILL OCCUR ALMOST RIGHT OFF THE BAT, AND IT WILL TAKE SOME TIME BEFORE THE CHARACTERS REALLY UNDERSTAND JUST WHAT'S GOING ON AND HOW IT ALL CAME TO BE.**

**FINALLY, IF YOU _REALLY_ WANT TO SUBMIT A CHARACTER, PLEASE DO SO IN A PRIVATE MESSAGE. I CAN'T STRESS THIS POINT ENOUGH.**

* * *

\

Now that that's out of the way, here's the character sheet I would prefer that you use when creating your character. I've even put in just what you should fill it in with, and provided two examples below for you to peruse.

_**BASIC INFORMATION**_

**Name:**

FIRST NAME, MIDDLE NAME (optional), LAST NAME

If your character's name has any significance, please specify.

**Nickname:**

Again, pretty self-explanatory.

**Date of Birth and Age:**

The day, month, and year your character was born. This story will start out in late November of the year 2015, a little before Thanksgiving, so fill out your character's age accordingly.

**Relatives:**

FULL NAME, RELATION TO YOUR CHARACTER, STATUS (Alive, Deceased, or Unknown as of November 2015. If Deceased, specify when they died), AGE (if Deceased, specify what age they were when they died)

Note that this list could be composed of people who aren't technically blood-related, but hold a significant place in your character's life.

**Place of Birth:**

Where your character was born. This could theoretically be virtually anywhere on the face of the Earth. So long as it isn't too far-fetched, I don't really care.

**Personality:**

This is a brief summary of how your character acts in any given situation. Please be as specific as you can, and include things like how they might act toward a person they just met versus someone who they hold in high regard, as well as their general outlook and demeanor.  
**History:**

The (abbreviated) life and times of your character, up until the day of the initial outbreak of Zombitis (working name). If your character was born in a different country or continent, please explain how they came to be in the story's setting. If your character has any deceased relatives of some import, please explain the circumstances, and how it affected your character. And anything else you feel the need to throw in that might be significant.

**Likes:**

What does your character enjoy doing? What kind of music, food, activities do they like?

**Dislikes:**

Conversely, what _doesn't _your character enjoy doing? What makes them sick to their stomach? Is there a certain type of person or act that they find deplorable? What books or movies do they detest (I'm looking at you, Stephanie Meyer...)

**Location During Initial Outbreak:**

Where was your character when they first encountered a zombie/group of zombies?

**Reaction to Infected:**

How does your character respond, physically, emotionally, or mentally, to the undead? Are they repulsed, or thrilled? Disgusted, or ecstatic?

**Reaction to Rodolfo Villalobos:**

Obviously, you'll have to read the character sheet on Rodolfo Villalobos before you fill this out, but it would be a good way for me to begin visualizing and mapping out character interactions.

**Reaction to Wilhelmina Voss:**

Again, you'll have to read the character sheets below to get a feel for Wilhelmina, so please do so.

_**PHYSICAL APPEARANCE**_

**Body Type:**

What is your character's general build? Are they tall and lanky, or short and squat? Are they buff like Arnold, or more along the lines of Michael Cera? You decide.

**Height:**

Pretty self-explanatory.

**Weight:**

Again, self-explanatory.

**Hair:**

What color is your character's hair? How do they usually style their hair? I'll take anything just short of Yugioh levels. I don't want multicolored liberty spikes with extra-long bangs that go down to their nipples or anything outlandish like that.

**Eyes:**

What color are their eyes? Pretty much anything.

**Regular Clothing:**

HEAD WEAR (hats, glasses, scarves, piercings, neck accessories, etc.); UPPER BODY (jackets, sweaters, coats, shirts, blouses, dresses, gloves, wrist/hand accessories etc.); LOWER BODY (pants, skirts, leggings, belts, etc.); FEET (shoes, socks, ankle accessories, etc.); MISCELLANEOUS (bags, packs, weapons holsters, etc.)

This will be your character's regular clothing, which will be worn a lot. Keep in mind that the setting of this story is a small town in Minnesota during the seasonal change from autumn to winter, so dress your character accordingly. Those wearing short-shorts and tank-tops need not apply. Also, please provide a brief description of the article of clothing (no brands, please), followed by that article's color in parentheses.

**Battle Gear:**

Anything your character might do if given enough time to prepare for a fight. This could be anything from pulling up their hair or rolling up their sleeves to donning chain mail and plate armor (though that might be going a bit too far). Use the template for REGULAR CLOTHING, please.

**Sleepwear:**

This is what your character dons when it's beddy-bye time. Again, use the template for REGULAR CLOTHING, please.

_**ABILITIES**_

**Strengths:**

A brief summary of why your character would be an ideal member of a survival group in an extremely hostile environment. Please note that your character's strengths should line up with their HISTORY. Someone who spent their life in their room reading and surfing the web will more than likely _not_ be an expert in kung fu, for example. Their strength would lie in intelligence and genre savviness.

**Weaknesses:**

A brief summary of why your character _wouldn't _be an ideal member of a survival group in an extremely hostile environment. Not everyone's perfect, not even fictional characters. The great part about a team is that the other members guard their companions' weaknesses, so your character shouldn't be a master at everything. The bookworm-type from the above example wouldn't have crippling stupidity as their weakness, but a lack of physical might.

**Fighting Ability:**

Yes, in a world largely populated by flesh-eating corpses and homicidal maniacs, the ability to stomp some serious ass is virtually a prerequisite. Note that your character doesn't necessarily _have_ to be a complete badass when it comes to combat skill, but they _should_ at least be able to swing a bat well enough to take off a zombie's head.

**Other Abilities:**

It takes more than martial prowess to survive in a post-apocalyptic world, and this is the place to put your character's various other abilities. These could be anything from cooking and domestic work to electrical, computational, or even driving and piloting skills. Really, just about anything that's not fighting and has a practical use will go here.

**Initial Weapon:**

This is what your character used to beat back the first zombies they meet. It should be good enough to defend with, but probably not sturdy enough to last more than a day or two, unless you want the initial weapon to become your character's main means of attack.

**Primary Weapon:**

This is what your character will use to plow through mountains of undead throughout the story. It will be their go-to weapon, and as such should probably be durable, something they're familiar enough with to use fairly well, and above all, pretty badass.

**Secondary Weapon:**

This is what your character will use whenever they're unable to use their primary weapon for whatever reason. It should be something that shores up your primary weapon's weakness. For example, if bookworm's primary is a shotgun, his secondary could be a baseball bat or another easy-to-use melee weapon.

**Other Details:**

If there's anything else that you might think of which doesn't easily fit into any of the other above categories, this is where to put it. Things like, tattoos or significant illnesses or scars that your character might have wouldn't be out of place here.

As promised, here are a few example submission forms. The first, Rudy, is my own character, who I submitted many months ago to a doomed story.

* * *

Now, this is my own original character, made nearly a year ago. After reading it over a few times, I think he's ready for another go at it, what about you?

_**BASIC INFORMATION**_

**Name:**

Rodolfo Villalobos (Rodolfo = 'Famous Wolf', Villalobos = 'Village of Wolves')

**Nickname: **

Rudy, Lobo

**Date of Birth and Age: **

December 21, 1996; 18 as of November 2015

**Relatives: **

Richard Lowe, Father, Unknown, 36; Guadalupe Villalobos, Mother, Deceased (October 31, 2003), 26 at death

**Place of Birth: **

Houston, Texas, United States of America

**Personality:**

At first glance, Rudy is a happy-go-lucky guy with rapier wit and a devious sense of humor, but looking further, he has the eyes of an old soul, someone who's experienced much more than someone their age should. He tries to keep others at arms' distance in order to keep himself from getting close to others. At his core, he's a bleeding heart with too much sympathy for his own good.

**History:**

His mother and father conceived him when they were young foolish children, and his father left long before he was born. His mother, Guadalupe, had been raised in a family of grease monkeys, and was exceptionally gifted at mathematics. In order to keep her son from the same fate which befell her, Guadalupe taught Randolph as much about her profession as possible while maintaining a job at an auto repair shop. Having inherited his mother's genius, Rudy learned quickly, so he could perform basic algebra and take apart an engine to reassemble it in an hour before his eighth birthday. But just before he turned eight, the garage his mother worked at, which had a poor electrical system, burned down with her in it. Having no other living relatives, Rudy was sent to a foster home, but ran away after only a week. He learned to quickly adapt to the streets, and from Houston moved steadily north, stealing what he needed and using the skills his mother bestowed upon him to earn what he couldn't steal. When he was nine and living in Wichita, Kansas, he met up with an old hobo called Joe whose most valuable possession was a beat-up Fender CD-100-12 Dreadnought 12-string acoustic guitar. Joe took Rudy under his wing, teaching him how to play the old instrument, and when he caught pneumonia, gave the Fender to Rudy and told him to move on. Eventually, social services caught up with him in Faribault, Minnesota when he was sixteen and placed him with a family until he became a legal adult. At that point he got a job as a mechanic and worked after school to pay for his rent in a small apartment in downtown Faribault. On his way to school one day, he noticed an elderly bum lying face-down on the sidewalk, and being the compassionate person he is, helped the man along to a small family clinic, offering to pay for the man's expenses out of pocket. Unfortunately, the man had been infected, killed the doctor working on him, and it took the doctor's daughter to exterminate the zombie.

**Likes:**

Rudy loves working with his hands, whether it be fixing a car engine or weaving a grass basket; anything to keep his fingers moving. Of the less reputable habits he's picked up on the streets, the one which has stuck with him is his love for marijuana, and he learned from several sources how to grow 'crops,' so he always knows he's got something to smoke. He loves reading, though loathes anyone knowing about it; most of the time on the run, his only comfort was escape to far-away places in the pages of filched novels. Before she died, his mother would always bump oldies radio in her garage while he watched her work, and listening to that kind of music always puts him in a nostalgic mood. His favorite pastime, other than fiddling with mechanics, is plucking out new songs on his inherited guitar and humming along.

**Dislikes: **

His greatest fear is being alone, which is why, before the outbreak, he would sometimes offer destitute people a place to stay for the night. He hates most rap artists associated with Young Money, but enjoys other, deeper rappers. As a runaway, Rudy knows how difficult life is on the streets, and he absolutely hates anyone who mistreats homeless folk, to the point of physically assaulting anyone he sees giving a hobo a hard time.

**Location During Initial Outbreak:**

At the Voss Family Clinic

**Reaction to Infected:**

"Zombies!? HEADSHOT!"

_**PHYSICAL APPEARANCE**_

**Body Type: **

Wiry, with the appearance of someone once healthy who had been half-starved

**Height:**

5'10"

**Weight:**

133 lbs.

**Hair:**

Chestnut. Unkempt and shaggy, sometimes falls into his eyes.

**Eyes:**

Pale gray

**Regular Clothing:**

Plushie wolf cap (gray), scarf (black, gray stripes); army field jacket (olive), hooded zip-up sweater (dark gray), short-sleeve button-up with nametag on left breast pocket (light blue), long-sleeve t-shirt (black); analog wrist-watch (gold, dark brown leather band), finger-less gloves (black leather); leather belt (black), baggy jeans (faded blue), athletic shorts (dark blue); traveling boots (black); tool belt (khaki)

**Battle Gear:**

Pulls scarf up to nose and tightens tool belt

**Sleepwear: **

Plaid pajama bottoms (green, black, and gray), plushie wolf cap (gray)

_**ABILITIES**_

**Strengths:**

Living on the streets for a good portion of his life has given him urban survival skills necessary for post-apocalyptic life, as well as quick reflexes and even quicker thought-processes, allowing him to analyze a situation and come up with a plan of action almost instantaneously. His mechanical know-how and upbeat attitude would also help with transportation and group morale. Growing 'crops' has given him an unexpected green thumb, which could definitely help if and when food becomes scares.

**Weaknesses: **

Said upbeat attitude might be off-putting and/or annoying to some, especially as Rudy sometimes uses humor as a defense mechanism during times of extreme stress. His mental dependency on marijuana could become a liability if he ever runs out.

**Fighting Ability: **

Having never studied a structured martial art discipline, he isn't the best fighter out there. However, his time on the streets taught him many things, including how to defend himself. His greatest assets in terms of fighting are conservation of energy and an excellent strategic mind. Many stronger, faster people who thought a small child would be easy prey learned very quickly not to mess with Rodolfo Villalobos. He's also pretty good at turning virtually any tool into a reasonably efficient weapon.

**Alternate Ability:**

Mechanics, mathematics, survival, agriculture (to a certain extent), musical talent (guitar, voice)

**Initial Weapon:**

A three-foot bong made from a metal pipe

**Primary Weapon:**

Any tool he can fit in his tool belt, including five-pound hammers, socket wrenches, monkey wrenches, and various power tools.

**Secondary Weapon:**

.40 caliber Beretta Model 93

**Other Details:**

Many scars across his body from the School of Hard Knocks, a tattoo on the inside of his left wrist depicting three sparrows in mid-flight in honor of his mother's favorite song, _Three Birds_ by Bob Marley.

* * *

Here is the character of StopHammertime, the author of the story which I submitted Rudy to. She's got some great potential, and the author was kind enough to allow me to use her, so here she is.

_**BASIC INFORMATION**_

**Name: **

Wilhelmina Sera Voss (Wilhelmina = 'Will to Protect', Sera = shortened form of 'Seraphina' which means 'Fiery One', Voss = 'Fox')

**Nickname:**

Will, Fox

**Date of Birth and Age: **

July 9, 1998; 17 as of November 2015

**Relative(s): **

Werner Voss, Father, Deceased (November 3, 2015), 42 at death; Bathilda Voss, Mother, Deceased (July 14, 2005), 34 at death; Kathrin Martina Voss, Younger Sister, Alive, 12; Klarusia Maria Voss, Younger Sister, Alive, 12

**Place of Birth:**

Faribault, Minnesota, United States of America

**Personality: **

Stern and proud, Wilhelmina commands the respect of everyone she meets with her calm, yet intimidating demeanor. She is courteous and graceful, but largely closed-off from all but those closest to her, however, if she sees in someone something to respect, she will act accordingly. She is also fiercely protective of anyone she has accepted into her circle of friends, and even more so with her sisters and father.

**History:**

Will's birth was a very difficult one, but her mother Bathilda Voss pulled through, although Will was born with _situs inversus_ with dextrocardia, meaning that her organs all lay in opposite positions to those of a normal human's, including her heart. Her parents ran a small family practice in Faribault, Minnesota, and soon enough she was learning basic medical knowledge along with her ABC's. When she was six, her parents conceived again, and this time, her mother bore fraternal twin girls, Kathrin and Klarusia Voss. Her father told her that now she was an older sister, she had to protect the twins as well as she could. This translated in her young mind as martial arts, and her parents signed her up to learn Tae Soo Do, the Way of the Warrior Spirit, and three years later, she graduated from that into its elder discipline, Hwa Rang Do, or the Way of the Flowering Knights. Days after her ninth birthday, however, as she and her mother were walking home from practice, they were mugged, and when Will attempted to fight their attackers off, her mother stepped in the way of a bullet meant for her and died. After such a traumatizing event, Will became more withdrawn while training even more vigorously than before in her martial art, eventually attaining the rank of black belt up to the fifth degree. She was forced to quit when her father, who had by then sunk into a deep, alcoholic depression from the death of his wife, told her he was in danger of losing the clinic, and began to take up more responsibility alongside her younger sisters to help keep the family afloat. On the day of the outbreak, Will was forced to call in sick to school in order to help the case of intense fever and bite wounds which came in early that morning, brought by one Rodolfo Villalobos. Unbeknownst to them, the patient had been a lucky victim of the outbreak, and flat-lined soon after being brought in. Less than a quarter of an hour later, she and her sisters were horrified to see that he had killed their father and was in the process of devouring his corpse. Together, she and Rodolfo were able to destroy the zombie's brain, and while she dealt with her sisters, Rodolfo took care of Werner Voss' infected corpse.

**Likes:**

In her spare time, she mostly meditates or practices her forms. Reading romance novels is her guiltiest pleasure, and she works out to Classic Rock music, the love of which her mother instilled in her as a child.

**Dislikes: **

Due to watching her mother die from a gunshot wound, Will is terrified of firearms, and takes every opportunity to stay as far away from any as possible. Though she loves her sisters dearly, they know more than anyone how to irritate her to the point of irrationality, though she despises anyone who dislikes children in general, and any jerk who does not get the hint that she isn't interested will most definitely get hurt.

**Location During Initial Outbreak:**

Her family clinic

**Reaction to Infected:**

At first, Will is disgusted by their cannibalistic tendencies, and is very frightened of their tenacity, though soon realizes that they are only powerful in large numbers.

_**PHYSICAL APPEARANCE**_

**Body Type:**

Slim, with sinewy muscles honed by over a decade of training.  
**Height:**

5' 7"  
**Weight:**

131 lbs.

**Hair: **

Jet-black, almost blue in some light. Waist-length, usually done up in a long braid over her shoulder.

**Eyes: **

Dark green

**Regular Clothing: **

Beanie (black), square-rimmed glasses (green); Faribault High School pullover hooded sweater (green and gray), long-sleeved shirt (black); winter gloves (black); Hwa Rang Do black belt, Faribault High School sweatpants (light gray), athletic shorts (green); fur-lined walking boots (black); sword sheath hanging from black belt

**Battle Gear: **

Pins braid up and takes off glasses

**Sleepwear: **

Faribault High School sweatpants (light gray), tank-top (white)

_**ABILITIES**_

**Strengths:**

Over a decade of training has kept Will's body in peak physical and mental condition, allowing her clarity of mind and the power to keep her sisters safe from the undead infestation. She also has intermediate medical skills thanks to the work she's done in her family clinic. Caring for her sisters has given her a no-nonsense attitude and motherly instinct which would keep a group of survivors in line and on schedule.  
**Weaknesses:**

Her father's alcoholism pushed her into a maternal role much earlier than anyone should be, forcing her to repress the pain of her own mother's death in order to assume responsibility, which could lead to mental instability in the future. Her withdrawn attitude could hinder a surviving groups interactivity.

**Fighting Ability:**

Tae Soo Do and Hwa Rang Do training up to 5th Dan Black Belt, nun-chuck training, long staff training, sword training

**Alternate Ability:**

Medical skills

**Initial Weapon(s):**

Part of a drip stand  
**Primary Weapon(s): **

Samjido (Three-Branch Sword)

**Secondary Weapon(s):**

.40 caliber Glock Model 23 (eventually)

**Other Details:**

_Situs Inversus _with dextrocardia, long scar tracing left side of jaw from training accident.

* * *

Well, there you have it. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to create a wonderful character to join these two in their quest for survival. Whether your character is chosen or not, you'll receive a PM from me just for submitting, and if I need something explained, you can straighten it out for me.

Hope to hear from you soon!


End file.
